The Bunny Room

~ The Bunny Room ~

A magical playland for little bunnies and kitties is what we created in the front room at Hutch.  It is the first thing you see as you enter our shop and I have to say that it lets you know what kind of experience lies ahead. A fun, childlike, and whimsical adventure.

Sometimes the bunnies are working on craft projects, sewing, cutting out paper carrots, and sometimes they are having cookies and carrot tea.  

The little bunny chairs are made of cardboard, but are sturdy enough to support bunny weight.

This cardboard dollhouse is something that I made a while ago and has been in different places in and out of the shop.  It along with a couple of vintage dollhouses add to the feeling of "play" in the room.  

Pictured below is the grand chandelier mobile which was the center and focal point of the room floating above the bunny table. 

Every time it rains, it rains, carrots from heaven.

Back in the day we used typewriters.

~ Back in the day we used typewriters. ~

We've had a few old typewriters kicking around the shop for some time now and I always get a kick out of all the conversation that they conjure with customers.  It's an age and time thing.  Older patrons may recall using a similar machine themselves once upon a time.  For the middle ager they may trigger a memory of parents or grandparents typing away.  For the children in the shop they are an unknown, an artifact, or an object of curiosity.  It's always explained to them that these are what people used before computers were invented to make writing faster.  They are amazed!

All 3 of these machines are for sale and available in the shop.  Prices from top to bottom are $60.00, $100.00,& $55.00.  Call 360-466-2303 or email chrisptheiss@gmail.com to inquire.

Tickety Tick Tick!

Festival of Family Farms.

~ Festival of Family Farms ~

The Skagit Valley celebrates it's Festival of Family Farms on the weekend of October 6th and 7th.  During the weekend you can enjoy farm tours, harvest markets, animal exhibits, demonstrations, kid's activities, hay rides, corn and hay mazes, pumpkin patches, food, and music.  It is a wonderful thing to do with the family this fall.  Gordon Skagit Farms on McLean Rd. in Mount Vernon has been a local fall tradition for my family and my wife's family before me.  Picking pumpkins, drinking apple cider, getting lost in a corn maze, and taking scary pictures in the "Haunted Room" against the backdrop of Eddie Gordon's fantastic painted scenes, are things our whole family looks forward to. The above pictured pumpkin is a sign in front of the farm painted by Eddie.  Look for it.

This year I will be watching the family as I demonstrate the wonders of whirligig making.  Hutch will have a booth where I, with drill in hand will be spinning the junk and old tools that you find in your backyard shed or kitchen draws into whimsical kinetic sculpture.  It will be a good time to observe the process or even to sign up for upcoming workshops at Hutch.

So I look forward to seeing you in the crisp fall air on October 6th and 7th from 10am-4pm at Gordon Skagit Farm.

The Whirligigs of Summer- Part 6

~ The Whirligigs of Summer ~

Part VI

Summer ended on a very fun note with this whirligig made by Margie.  When she started unloading her goodies from the boxes she brought in I started to drool.  Fun and colorful vintage toys and kitchen doodads.  She admittedly wasn't planning on putting her gig outside unless she was having a party so it she did't have to concern herself at all about function and she could just create fun visual eye candy.

This is a picture of some of the items that she didn't use. Margie has enough stuff for multiple whirligigs and I have a feeling I'll see her again for another workshop.  Looking forward to it!

Paper House Lights at Hutch

~ Paper House Lights at Hutch ~

1963 Good Housekeeping Cookbook House Light,  21"x 15"x 15",   $185.

The paper house light has been something that has always received a great deal of attention both here in the shop and on line. I remember when I first posted the image below on the internet. It was everywhere in no time. The exact light pictured below was featured on an episode of "Dear Genevieve" on HGTV a year ago and I sadly have not seen it yet.  They are for sale in the shop and I still plan on making it a DIY kit at some point but for now the workshops that teach others how to make the light are what's popular.  To see the current schedule of hutch workshops just click on "workshops" on our blog's main page.

~Sold~

Oh the shadows.....  If you have a dark space to hang the light, like a corner close to 2 walls, you take full advantage of it's shadow casting abilities and magic.

World Atlas House Light,  15"x 13"x 13",   $160.

This light is made out of a old World Atlas. You may be able to locate your place in the world on one of the houses.  The paper is a little thicker and not as translucent compared to the cookbook lights, but it has soft color pallet of blues, greens, and yellows.

Gail, one of my favorite workshoppers has taken this class twice and created two beautiful lights.  Both creations were very thoughtful.  The first repurposed maps that were specifically places that her daughter had been.  It was a graduation gift.  The second, a detail shown below.  Was machine stitched pages from "Pride and Prejudice" a favorite of her daughter.  Another gift.  It's obvious that she loves her daughters a great deal and  I'm sure they love their special gifts from mom.

So don't you want to check out the upcoming workshop schedule and sign up to make your own paper house light now?  Just go for it!

Whimsical Windows

~ Whimsical Windows ~

Not too long ago I stopped into Hutch and found our creative leader Krys Kirkpatrick busy as a bee in the bay windows of the aqua room.  She was magically transforming the windows into delightful floral frames with bunnies, ducks, and mushrooms.  

She painted them on the inside and went back into the painted images by scratching lines. I think it is so important to experiment when it comes to art. Krys definitely gets it and it's the only way to discover new things.  And it's fun!

 A snail peeks from in between two magical mushrooms. Would't you want to go in and see what else is in store? 

I love when the sunshine beams through the window panes casting fun shadows on the sill.  Also seeing through to the bushes and flowers moving in the breeze brings it all to life.

So Sweet!

The Whirligigs of Summer- Part 5

~ The Whirligigs of Summer ~

Part V

I just can't help it but when someone brings an item that I haven't seen before I get excited about the whirligig.  In this case it was the tin mold that sits below the enameled coffee pot.  The larger cake pan that the spoons are attached to is pretty interesting as well with its' star like shape.

The little copper Buda bells and rope molds on this gig I definitely hadn't seen before.  The flower petal bowl at the center adds a lot to the look of this whirligig.

The Whirligigs of Summer- Part 4

~ The Whirligigs of Summer ~

Part IV

The two whirligigs shown here are good examples of a color pallet.  Yellow, black and red is a striking choice.  Outdoors they will begin to rust and the colors will fade and soften.  But for now they will spin in the wind showing off their boldness. Brenda, the creator of the whirligig at the top is a super talented Steampunk artist and we used to carry her extraordinary jewelry in our shop. Her friend that created the gum ball machine topped gig below was also an artist and art teacher.  It was great getting the chance to hang out with these cool women and making 2 very cool whirligigs.

The Whirligigs of Summer- Part 3

~ The Whirligigs of Summer ~

Part III (revised)

A record was set in July for the longest distance traveled to take the whirligig workshop at Hutch.  Karen and Frank drove all the way from Southern California just to make whirligigs.  That is amazing!  Karen had been wanting to take the workshop for a couple of years and it finally worked out.  I loved it, and I'm pretty sure they did too.

The Whirligigs of Summer- Part 2

~ The Whirligigs of Summer ~

Part II

The June whirligigs were pretty special.  This is one of my favorites to date and has a story that's a workshop first. The couple that made it are from Gig Harbor, which in itself it pretty funny. They ran a half marathon that morning in Seattle, then drove up to La Conner and built this Whirligig finishing in almost record time (2:30pm). That's fast. They were a super fun couple and they produced a super fun whirligig.  I could use that kind of energy. I'm assuming that this whirligig spins on their Dahlia farm in Gig Harbor now.

The Whirligigs of Summer- Part 1

~The Whirligigs of Summer~

Part I

Tom, Sharon, & Al.

I've been accumulating a bunch of great photos over the past couple of months, due to the great work by the many participants in our whirligig workshops.  Tom, Sharon and Al created their gigs in May and it was a lot of fun as I recall.

This is a good example of how you can use both new and old items together on the same gig.  Eventually being outdoors, everything will look weathered and old.

Old flatware is pretty labor intensive to drill.  A tip is to try to bend the handle using a couple of fingers with gentle pressure.  If it doesn't flex it will probably take a while to drill through.  Also, some materials that are plastics or composites can be brittle when drilling.  I believe the purple plates on the gig above were bamboo and had the tendency to crack.

Sharon had a challenge with her Stainless Mugs.  We can't drill through stainless so it's on my "Don't Bring" list, but we made it work by creating metal straps that wrapped around the handles and attached to the lid of the red tin.  Everyone needs to have one challenge during the process.